A long time coming...

I would like to apologise for the delay between the first post here, and this post. Time has been short, which has meant that the blog has been neglected.

I do hope to update this more regularly, with updates (text only) to be sent directly from the Museum on a relatively regular basis, so as to give more 'up to the minute' updates. It is hoped to put photos up fairly soon afterward.

Current work on the roller has been working on wire brushing various parts, with work having been done on the rear wheels, as well as storage of many parts. Due to the cold weather, work has been focusing on most other projects, such as the side tipper wagon. Work has also been progressing on the boiler (more on this later), which is now coming along fairly rapidly, with work being done on it as I type at the Belgrave workshops.

The main project recently has been the Side Tipping wagon, which has had the body cleaned up and repainted, as well as the roller bearings having been repaired and the wheels currently being sand blasted to get the last of the dirt, etc, off. Once completed, these will have the roller bearings re-fitted, and the wheels placed back under the wagon.

We now also have our Horizontal Tangye operational, with this running off of the George and George boiler. Work has also been completed on 'Number 4', our 2ft gauge Hudswell Clarke 0-4-2st locomotive.

Having also had to do maintenance to the ex Alishan Shay locomotive recently, we are currently re-assembling the external piping and classing to make the locomotive suitable for static display again. Work is being done tonight on wire brushing the firebox, amongst other things.

On to the Aveling and Porter... This project is progressing slowly, with work being done at both Belgrave and Menzies Creek. Unfortunately, the original boiler was condemned. However, we now have a second hand boiler, which is being worked on

Tonight, work is progressing on the firebox of the new boiler in the Belgrave workshops. The boiler has had the barrel removed, since this is to be replaced with a new boiler barrel, new tube plates, and new tubes.

Work is also progressing on the motion gear, with this being steadily cleaned and then stored.

There are also a number of changes happening at the Museum itself, in preparation for the eventual re-opening. The current works are to build a back wall on our 2ft gauge loco shed, so as to make it more weather proof (it's bloody cold in there!). We are also working on CAD drawings for the new buildings, with some work on these currently being done by one of the volunteers in the museum. As more on this is confirmed, it will hopefully be posted here.

This will likely be the longest blog post for the time being, since it is hoped to have at least fortnightly blog posts in future.

Have fun, and thank you for reading.